A Colquitt County grand jury heard the case against accused mass killer Jeffrey Peacock on Thursday.

It was a much anticipated day for the Moultrie community.

Finally moving forward

It comes ten months after investigators said Peacock murdered five of his friends and set their house on fire.

Peacock has been in the Colquitt County Jail since May of 2016. However, because it has taken months to get the case to the grand jury, the man accused of one the worst mass killings in South Georgia was issued a $1 million bond.

District Attorney of the Southern Judicial Circuit Brad Shealy said it has taken so long for prosecutors to build their case because of the abundance of evidence during the course of the investigation.

"There is finally progress being made as the case of a man accused of brutally murdering his five friends was presented to a grand jury," said Shealy. "The purpose of the grand jury is to simply hear a summary of the case, facts in the case, and then make a decision on whether there is efficient probable cause for it to be tried by a jury."

If the grand jury reaches 12 votes, an indictment could be read soon.

"The grand jury will make a decision today but will not return to court until next Tuesday, then the decision will be made known," explained Shealy.

The call that launched a major investigation

The morning of May 15, 2016, Peacock made a 911 call to report a fire at the home on Rossman Dairy Road.

Dispatch: "That's 505 Rossman dairy?"

Peacock: "Yes Ma'am"

Dispatch: "Okay are you the home owner"

Peacock: "I'm not but all my buddies, they're all inside."

His friends, Jonathan Edwards, Alicia Norman, Jones Pidcock, Reid Williams, and Jordan Croft, were found dead inside. But further investigation showed that they all had been shot before the fire.

Peacock: "Yes ma'am and the house is engulfed."

Dispatch: "Okay and do you know how many people are in there"

Peacock: "There's four people inside"

Peacock told Dispatch that he left the home to get breakfast, and returned to find the house in flames.